Ch.178Territory (4)

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The inspector dispatched from Dijon looks at the sky turning red and says this, and the officials who were surveying the number of households and population in the domain begin to pack up their equipment.

The stationery is neatly arranged and placed into storage boxes, while the simple documents recording work progress are carefully rolled up to prevent creasing and tucked into leather bags.

“How many people have received identification cards so far?”

“7,814 people.”

“According to these documents, the population here is supposed to be 9,000… Tsk, we’ve barely finished half, and there are so many.”

The inspector smirks upon confirming the obviously falsely reported population figures.

He’s pleased to have obtained evidence for potential blackmail, but he also knows very well that this evidence won’t simply disappear.

Other rulers might overlook such things as minor administrative errors to appease the nobles, but the ones I serve would never stoop to such trivial matters as appeasing nobles.

“Village chief, is there an empty building where we can stay?”

“There is just one, but… it’s an old barn. It wouldn’t bother simple folk like us, but it might be uncomfortable for distinguished visitors from the capital.”

“That’s fine. As long as it blocks the wind, anywhere will do.”

“Is that so? Then go down that hill over there. You may use the stored straw, but please clean up after yourselves.”

“Yes, of course we will.”

The administrative group accepts the village chief’s generous offer and decides to stay in the barn.

Generally, administrative investigations like this—from the bottom of the social hierarchy to the top, from serfs to nobles—aren’t welcomed by many. After all, only eccentrics enjoy paying taxes.

For this reason, the villagers initially showed great resistance to the sudden census and tried to drive away these officials, but thanks to their approachable attitude (quite unlike what one would expect from high-ranking officials) and some small gifts, they relented. As a result, the officials, though in a barn, at least avoided sleeping outdoors.

“Aaah… By the way, what happens after we finish and leave? New identification cards will need to be issued to growing children, and if the cards of deceased people aren’t properly processed, they could be misused.”

An official who has just flopped down onto his makeshift bed in the barn asks the inspector, as if the thought had just occurred to him.

The official’s point is entirely valid.

The very fact that they’re traveling around issuing identification cards to people one by one means that without doing this, the identification system wouldn’t function properly.

Among the people they’ve met so far, many were children too young to qualify for identification cards. When they grow into adults, who exactly would issue their identification cards?

“In regions with small populations, officials will still need to patrol periodically to issue identification cards to residents, but in areas exceeding a certain population threshold, tax offices that also function as local government offices will be established to constantly monitor domain residents.”

“What? Um… is that possible? This isn’t royal territory, is it?”

The official is shocked by the inspector’s words.

If what the inspector says comes to pass, there would be bloodshed everywhere.

It’s clear that some nobles would do everything in their power to obstruct this work unless they were shown leniency, reached sufficient agreements, or exchanged bribes of a magnitude ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

“It’s fine. I’ve looked into how things will proceed, and it doesn’t seem like there will be such a great catastrophe.”

“…That still implies there will be some catastrophe.”

“That’s right. How could such a matter end without bloodshed? It seems certain they’ll make examples of some nobles by punishing them severely.”

Punishing nobles severely—such words would never come from the mind of an ordinary medieval person.

Yet everyone here shows no surprise at these aggressive statements.

The Administrative Department of Dijon University, heavily influenced by Claude, Ines, Chloe, and others of the royal family, instilled a common sentiment in all its students: only unification under His Majesty, directing all power to His Majesty, is the sole answer for national development.

In other words, for graduates of Dijon University’s Administrative Department, local lords became mere obstacles to national unification, evils that must eventually be eliminated.

“Haha, that’s fortunate. But from what I hear, isn’t there a risk those nobles might strike first?”

“Well, yes. That’s why the lord has sent trackers and is watching for an opportunity.”

“Yes, track—wait, trackers?”

The official who had been lying on the straw bed conversing with the inspector opens his eyes wide in surprise at this unfamiliar information.

Just moments ago drowsy and about to fall asleep, the official now stares wide-eyed at the inspector standing by the barn door.

“But more importantly, which lord? Do you mean the lord of this domain?”

“Yes, the lord of this place.”

“…What?”

The official can no longer follow the conversation.

The lord of this place has sent trackers to monitor us?

Isn’t this clearly the attitude one takes toward enemies?

We have guards, but their numbers are few. If the lord goes mad and tries to kill us, those guards won’t be enough to resist.

Uh, umm… This is… um… Right, think positively. Maybe they’re not treating us as enemies, just as unauthorized outsiders?

“It’s somewhat extreme but understandable that he would send trackers to monitor outsiders freely moving about in his domain—”

CLANG!!

“—Ugh…?!”

The official, desperately trying to piece together the cause and effect of the situation in his mind, reaches this conclusion, but unfortunately, his judgment is scattered into the air by an extremely loud metallic sound from outside.

This is… a sound that no one from Rotaring would fail to recognize.

The sound of sword clashing against sword.

“Inspector! We need to flee immediately!! The lord seems determined, and if that’s the case, our guards alone won’t be enough!”

The official makes a rational assessment.

If the lord is crazy enough to attack officials sent by the king, it means he’s made up his mind—and quite firmly at that.

He must have sent enough troops to overwhelm our guards. If so, it’s too dangerous for all of us to remain gathered in this barn. At the very least, while the guards buy time, we should scatter and inform Dijon that the lord has committed treason.

“It’s fine. I anticipated this and that’s why we decided to hole up in this barn.”

“What?”

“Everyone, don’t leave this barn. This place is safest because the limited entry points make it easier to defend. Outside, there’s nothing but forests and fields.”

“But…!”

“Enough. Don’t make noise—it might provoke the enemy.”

The inspector, with his finger pointing at the door, gives these instructions to the officials and allows no further questions.

The inspector simply trusts in the skills of those trained by Lady Chloe.

……….

“…Leclerc.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How many troops can we mobilize within the hour? Excluding those needed for city and castle security.”

“We have 300 royal guards and 1,500 standing army soldiers. There are mercenaries on retainer, but it would be difficult to gather them so quickly. It would take at least two days.”

“Then send all 1,800 for now. Burn everything to the ground.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will execute immediately.”

This bastard… what is he thinking?

Attacking officials carrying out royal orders like this?

Although I somewhat expected something like this might happen, experiencing it directly is still quite shocking.

“…Perhaps I’ve grown too soft lately.”

It seems he tried to disguise the murder of officials as an accident, but even if it had succeeded, such a foolish act would have been exposed immediately.

Heh… Has he lost touch with reality from being stuck in the countryside? This is why nobles ignorant of the world are the most dangerous.

‘At least there were no casualties, which is fortunate… hmm.’

According to the report, the assassins sent by the lord were numerous, but thanks to the valiant efforts of the guards, they were repelled and the officials were protected.

Still, something seems off.

They say it was too dark to see clearly, but the assassins clearly outnumbered the soldiers several times over, and these assassins would have prepared thoroughly for fighting in darkness.

Yet while there were injuries, there were no fatalities.

Hmm… Either the soldiers were exceptionally well-trained and skilled, or the assassins were remarkably incompetent. Or perhaps both.

Well, there’s clear evidence in the form of the assassins’ bodies, and there’s no reason to question those who fought bravely. I should just let this end well. If I start doubting everything, I’ll become paranoid.